The hosts rallied back from Thai captain Teerasil Dangda’s opener to score twice in a five-minute span, setting up w.hat will be an explosive second leg at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok

“We had a very difficult match against a better team today. They are the best team in Southeast Asia, in fact,” the Austrian coach told reporters.

“In the first half, we failed to show our quality and conceded a goal. But we played very well in the second half, with better passing and better reading of the match. After scoring the first goal, we got an extra morale boost, and we were able to turn the game into a win.

“In the second match, we will keep running, keep working hard and everything can happen in football, like lucky things from red card and penalty. So we will give our best and see if we can get a good result,” he added.

His counterpart, Thailand national team manager Kiatisuk Senamuang, had little to say after the match, answering just one question before concluding his press conference.

“We conceded in the same way as we did in the group stage, from long balls and crosses,” the coach known as Zico said. “There’s no other option for us in the second leg but winning.”